The Essential Cannabis Travel Guide to Los Angeles

Los Angeles is the world’s largest cannabis market and can certainly be a bit overwhelming for any pot enthusiast ready to make their first legal purchase. We hate sending you out there unprepared, so we put together an array of must-stop locations for cannabis enthusiasts ready to smoke and eat.

Back in the day before adult-use cannabis came to California, the first place we would have sent you was Venice Beach to get your hands on a doctor’s recommendation, but gone are the days where you needed a case of insomnia to get your hands on some legit SoCal OG Kush. In the modern era of adult-use, a valid state issued ID or a passport will get the job done! And while that $100 bucks you’re saving by not needing a medical marijuana recommendation may only get you an eighth in San Francisco, in LA it can buy you two!

The places on this list were chosen for their history and quality of cannabis. Flavor obviously applies to everyone on it, too! When we’re in town and out of flower or running on an empty stomach, these are the first places that pop up in our head.

This West Hollywood mainstay is among the oldest dispensaries in the state and has the relationships to match. You can regularly find some of the state’s top cultivators gracing their shelves. The Netflix series “Disjointed” was based on one of AHHS’s partners Dr. Dina, and according to Variety, they host 2 Chainz and Snoop Dogg among their regular clients.

Then, Head Next Door to the Los Angeles Patients & Caregivers Group

Photo courtesy LAPCG

Some of the most serious heat in Southern California graces the shelves of this activist-founded LAPCG dispensary that’s called West Hollywood home since 2004. Some of the marquee items will include Trainwreck and the Lemon Crush that won the Emerald Cup in 2017 and placed in the top ten again at this year’s version of the cultivation competition. This dispensary also has one of the wider spreads of CBD products — made not hemp, but from the good stuff.

For Post-Smoke Munchies, Try Roscoe’s Chicken & Waffles

PHOTO Dale Cruse

If you’re visiting LA and you are smoking cannabis and you don’t visit a Roscoe’s, I have absolutely no idea what you’re doing with your life. Sure, the mac and cheese is $8 bucks a scoop if you tip properly, but once you taste it, you’re going to be wondering how long it might take to get another. Also if you’re from one of those draconian places where biscuits and gravy never took off (looking at you, Boston), now is your time to shine. On our last visit, we saw Method Man, but we were too hyped up on the food to attempt a hello.

There’s even a Roscoe’s location a few miles from Alternative Herbal Health Services and the Los Angeles Patients & Caregivers Group, so you can string together the two for a perfect lunch or dinner activity.

For the Absolute Top-Shelf Cannabis, Travel to the Jungle Boys’ Dispensary

Photo Jared Delello

Visiting the Jungle Boys at their TLC Collective dispensary headquarters out on East Olympic Boulevard might feel a bit deep into East LA for the casual tourist enjoying what the beach and other parts of town have to offer, so if that’s the case, fear not! The Jungle Boys’ new location in the downtown area, Los Angeles Farmers, is a lot more accessible for tourists. There, you’ll be able to purchase the various phenotypes they’ve hunted down from seed themselves, along with a spread that includes some of the state’s top cultivators that also grace the shelves. From the original WiFI to Wedding Cake, we just simply can’t pick out a favorite. There are too many to name — try and get your hands on any of them!

Don’t Forget to Search for Local Cannabis Events

Photo Taylor Kent

LA is known for having a lot of fun weed events, and nowadays, the best way to find ones happening near you and during your visit is if you look around a bit on Instagram. The events can range from the most scandalous illicit-market smoke-outs to fully legit Michelin-starred chefs cooking dinner while you smoke joints. Over the next year, things will really pick up, as the new event regulations started at the beginning of 2019 and made it easier for private locations to hold cannabis events.

Keep an Eye on West Hollywood for the Future of Cannabis Lounges

In the not too distant future, West Hollywood will be the global epicenter for pot lounges. Some insiders expect it will take the eight operations that scored permits in the city a year or so to get off the ground if they’re trying to do it well, but we certainly could expect to see the first openings this summer.